March 7, 2017

Highlighted Year: Lou Groza, 1946

Tackle/Placekicker,
Cleveland Browns

Age: 22

1st
season in pro football

College: Ohio State

Height: 6’3”Weight: 215

Prelude:

Groza saw
little college action before going into the military during World War II, but
Paul Brown signed him for the Browns of the new AAFC for 1946.In his first season, he was used
primarily as a placekicker who backed up on the offensive line.

1946 Season Summary

Appeared in
all 14 games

[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Kicking

Field goals –
13 [1]

Most field
goals, game – 3 vs. Miami 9/6

Field goal
attempts – 29 [1]

Field goal
percentage – 44.8

PATs – 45 [1]

PAT attempts
– 47 [1]

Longest field
goal – 51 yards vs. Chicago 11/17

Scoring

Field Goals –
13

PATs – 45

Points – 84
[1]

Postseason: 1
G (AAFC Championship vs. New York)

Field goals –
0

Field goal
attempts – 3

PATs – 2

PAT attempts
– 2

Punts – 2

Yards – 80

Average –
40.0

Awards & Honors:

2nd
team All-AAFC: UPI

Browns went 12-2
to finish first in the AAFC Western Divisionwhile leading the league in total
yards (4244), touchdowns (55), and scoring (423 points). Won AAFC Championship
over New York Yankees (14-9).

Aftermath:

Groza became
a starting tackle during the1947 season and excelled there, if not as visibly
as he did with his kicking. With Cleveland joining the NFL in 1950, he led the
league in field goals (13) and field goal percentage (68.4), kicked the
game-winning field goal in the NFL title game, and was named to the Pro Bowl
for the first of six straight seasons. He again led the league in field goals
in 1952 (19) and ’53 (23) and was successful on 88.5 % of his attempts in the
latter year. Groza receivedleague MVP recognition from TheSporting News in 1954when
he led the NFL with16 field goals out of 24 attempts for a league-leading 66.7
percentage and along with 37 extra points ranked third in scoring with 85 points. The best placekicker of his
era, “The Toe” also continued to be an outstanding tackle. He was again a
consensus first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection in 1955, led the NFL in
field goals in 1957 (15) and was named to the Pro Bowl in ’57, ’58, and ’59 for
a total of 9 in all. 1959 marked his last season as a tackle and he retired for
a year in 1960 due to a back injury. He returned as strictly a placekicking
specialist in 1961 and led the league in field goal pct. that year (69.6) and
again in 1963 (65.2). He finally retired for good following the 1967 season at
age 43 and after a total of 21 years (four in the AAFC, 17 in the NFL). At the
time, he was the NFL career leader in games played (216), scoring (1349
points), field goals (234), and extra points (641). Adding in his AAFC totals,
he played in 268 games, scored 1608 points, and kicked 264 field goals and 810
extra points. The Browns retired his #76 (which he wore for the last 15 years of
his long career) and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class
of 1974.

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories: